People want say in own health care: expert

Australians are moving into an era in which they are taking ownership of decisions about their health, says Carole Bennett, the chief executive of the Consumer Health Forum.

"We know that more than 80 per cent of the community access health information online," said Ms Bennett, a speaker at a Medical Technology Association of Australia conference in Sydney on Thursday.

"There needs to be good information in general. In the past we have left decisions to doctors. Consumers now want to be part of the process."

She says people need confidence in medical devices, particularly those implanted in their bodies.

"There have been several scares with breast and breast and hip implants. You can't just remove them if something goes wrong.

"It's a very big decision to have something put into your body. You want to be sure it is going to work. You can't afford to have failures."

Australia has put a lot of work into ensuring the safety of high-risk medical devices, Ms Bennett says.

The future e-health system is an opportunity to record the details of people's devices in case something goes wrong, she says.

Medical Technology Association chief executive Susanne Tegen says mobile apps and other devices are helping people be involved in their own health management. However, people's health care should be managed in partnership with their doctors.

"People who are ill cannot make a decision about a particular innovation unless they speak to their doctor about it," Ms Tegen said.

She says the most exciting technological developments include the coronary stent, which has halved the number of people suffering heart failure or dying from heart attacks.

Another is the implantable cardiac defibrillator, which gives patients a 98 per cent chance of surviving a heart attack, compared with five per cent without.